Metallic rod-packing



J. BADEKER.

METALLIC ROD PACKING. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22. 191 7.

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J OHN BA 0 EKER,

J. BADEKER.

METALLIC ROD PACKING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22. 1911.

1 376 1 31 u Patent/ed Apr. 26 19210 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JOHN BADEKER-a UNllT FFHQEO JOHN BADEKEB, 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO STANDARD METALLIC PACKING COMPANY, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA, A CORPORATION OF NEBRASKA.

METALLIC ROD-PACKING.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN BADEKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Rod-Packings, of which the following is a specification.

My, invention relates to metallic rod-packing, adapted for such uses as maintaining a steam-tight joint around the piston-rods and valve-rods of locomotives or other steam engines. It is the object of my invention to provide a simple, durable and efficient packing for the purposes set forth, having means for maintaining a proper circumferential spacing of the packing segments about the rod, and for preventing excessive pressure between, and consequent rapid wear of, the packing and rod. Further objects of my invention are to provide an improved form of follower for use on pistonrods having enlarged reinforcing end-portions over which the continuous annular parts of the packing must be passed in assembling and removing the same, and with Which it is desirable that the entire packing assembly be contained in the gland and bedcapable of lateral movement with the ro In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal or axial section of a rodpacking assembly embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a partial front view and partial transverse section of the same on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an axial section of the packing-ring, Fig. 4 is a front view of the same, Fig. 5 is a front view of a modified form of the packing-ring, Fig. 6 is an axial section of the same, Fig. 7 is an axial section of another modified form of the packing-ring, and Fig. 8 is a front view of the same.

In the structure illustrated, the rod 10 has an enlarged reinforcing portion 11 at the end thereof, as commonly employed for the piston-rods of locomotives. The cylinderhead 12 has the usual stuffing-box 13, and into the front end of said stuffing-box there is fitted a back-ring 14 having an outer flange resting against the front side of the head 12. The rear end of the gland 15 fits against and partly over said outer flange of Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnibgd Apr; 26 1921 Application filed ()ctober 22, 1917.

Serial No. 197,983.

the back-ring, said gland being secured to the head 12 by studs 16 and nuts 17 inthe usual way. It will be noted that the openlng or bore of the gland and back-ring, and of the head 12 at the rear end of the stuffing-box, are large enough to pass over the reinforcing part 11 of the rod. It should also be noted that in practice, owing to wear of the cross head, piston and cylinder, the rod does not maintain a position concentric with said openings of the gland and stuffing-box, but usually assumes a position more or less eccentric thereto, and has some lateral or side movement during each stroke of the piston. To accommodate such lateral movement of the rod, it is necessary that the packing and the parts abutting thereagainst be free to move laterally with the rod. 4

Within the gland, at the front end of the packing-chamber, there is disposed a stopring comprising a continuous outer ring 18 having a shouldered or rabbeted bore large enough to pass over the rod-enlargement 11, and a split or two-part inner ring 1919' fitting within the shouldered bore of the ring 18 and bearing upon the sides of the rod. The front side of the stop-ring fits against the inner face 20 of the gland, the abutting faces being plane-surfaced perpendicularly to the rod-axis and ground to form a steam-tight joint. The bore of the stopring does not form a steam-tight joint with the rod, however, since the ring is incapable of closing upon the rod to compensate wear of the contacting surfaces; but escape of steam around the rod through the bore of the stop-ring is prevented by the packingring, which forms a steam-tight joint with both the rod and the rear face of the stoprmg.

The packing-ring, hereinafter described in detail, is pressed yieldingly against the stop-ring bv means of .a follower which bears against the rear face of the packingring. The follower comprises a continuous ring 21 of which the bore is large enough to pass over the rod-enlargement 11, and which has in the rear face thereof a plurality of cylindrical pockets in which coil springs 22 are disposed as shown. The ring 21 fits slidably upon the longitudinal flange of a two-part or split L-ring 2323, the

' radial flange of said ring resting slidably or axial clearance-space between said ring 21 and the L-ring.

The packing-ring shown in Figs. 1, 3

and 4 comprises six segments or pieces, there being three main segments 24 and three inner or lapping segments 25. The main seg-' m-ents 24 are uniformly arranged circumferentially of the rod, and have parallel adjacent end-faces with clearance-spaces between them extending radially and parallel to the axis of the rod, said clearance-spaces being gradually reduced in width as the packing wears and closes upon the rod. The rear sides of the segments 24 lie in a plane perpendicular to the rod and are engaged by the front side of the follower-ring 21. The front sides of the main segments are provided with plane-surfaced recesses in which the inner segments 25 fit slidably, one of said inner segments lying in overlapping relation to the adjacent ends of each pair of the main segments and stopping off, longitudinally of the rod, the clearance-space between the ends of said main segments. The rear sides of the recesses in the main segments are perpendicular to the rod, and the outer sides of the several recesses are disposed at angles to each other similar to the sides of a hexagon symmetrical to the axis of the rod. The thickness of the inner segments 25 is the same as the depth of the recesses in which they lie, and the flat side surfaces of said segments form steam-tight joints with the stop-ring and the rear sides of the recesses, while the concave inner surfaces fit upon the rod and the flat outer sides form steamtight joints with the outer sides of the recesses in the main segments. It will be noted that the two fiat surfaces which form the outer side of each inner Segment are angularly related to each other as two of the sides forming a corner or vertex of a hexagon. The ends of the inner segments are perpendicular to the adjoining outer faces thereof, and are parallel to the respectively adjacent ends of the recesses, said ends of the segments and recesses having clearance-spaces between them, as shown. On each of the ends of the inner segments there is carried a rectangular lug 26 which extends across the clearancespace perpendicularly to the rod and engages the end of the recess, and the thickness of the lug is less than the thickness of the segment, so that there is clearance-space at each side of the lug. The outer or convex sides of the main segments are grooved to receive annular springs 27 which are disposed around the same, as shown in Fig. 1, being under suflicient tension to hold the segments together radially of the rod.

The packing-ring is made of bearingmetal having a hardness and fusib-ility appropriate to the conditions under which the packing is to be used. Thus, for low-pressure steam the packing segments may be cast from Babbitt-metal, for high-pressure and superheated steam the packing may be of material such as 50% copper-lead alloy, while for steam of very high pressure and temperature it may be necessary to employ brass or bronze in the segments. It will be seen that the lugs 26 at the ends of the inner segments maintain uniformity of the clearance-spaces, not only at the ends of the inner segments but also between the ends of the main segments. As the packing wears, each of the segments moves in radially of the rod without bending or deformation of the bodies thereof, the contacting fiat faces of the segments sliding upon each other so that the inner segments move, relatively to the main segments, toward the ends of the recesses, and thelugs 26 being shortened by lateral enlargement or upsetting of the material therein to permit said relative end-movement. It will be seen that, owing to the required upsetting of the material in said lugs, the same oppose the closing of the packing upon the rod, thus reducing the pressure between the packing and the rod, and minimizing wear of the contacting surfaces. Ordinarily the lugs may be of the same material as, and integral with, the inner segments, but obviously the material and the size of the lugs must always be such that they can be upset by the pressure thereon, under the temperature conditions to which they are subjected when in use. As the material in the lugs is upset, it spreads laterally into the clearancespaces behind and in front of the respective lug, and a small part of the excess material is worn and carried away by the rod. Any leakage of steam through the joints between the main segments and the rear sides of the inner segments is prevented by the lugs 26, which form walls between the front and rear portions of the clearance-spaces at the ends of the inner segments. As the bodies of the segments are not bent or distorted during closure thereof, their contact- 1ng surfaces maintain steam-tight joints without difliculty, and there is no tendency to cause failure of the packing either by fracture of the segments or by separation of the sliding surfaces forming the several steam-tight joints.

The annular springs 27 are employed merely to hold the segments in place when the packing is not under steam ressure, the packing being pressed inwardly upon the rod mainly by the steam which enters the gland past or through the follower, and as the pressure of the steam is necessary to upset the pins 26, no wear of the packing occurs when there is no steam pressure in the gland. During lateral movement of the rod, relatively to the gland and cylinderhead, the packing-ring, stop-ring, followerring 21 and L-ring 23-23 all move with the rod, the stop-ring sliding upon the inher face 20 of the gland, and the bring sliding upon the front face of the back ring 14.

In the structure of the packing-rings shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, the main segments 24: are the same as in the preceding forms, but the inner segments 251 are not provided at their ends with the upsetting lugs of the first-described form. The functions of said upsetting lugs are performed, however, by the following means: in the structure shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the clearance-spaces at the ends of the inner segments are completely filled by rectangular blocks 261 of a metal much softer and more malleable than the metal used in the segments. The blocks 261 are attached to the main segments by pins of the same material as the blocks and integral therewith, said ins extending into openings therefor as indicated by the dotted lines 262. When the packing is in operative position, the soft blocks are completely confined by the packing-segments, the stop-ring, and the rod, so that the soft material is prevented from upsetting under the pressure to which it is subjected, except as it is pressed against, and worn, and carried away by the movement of the rod; but owing to the softness of the material, the inner sides of the blocks are so worn by the rod and the material thereby displaced at a ratefaster than the rate of wear of the segments, thus permitting displacement of material from the bodies of the blocks and enabling closing of the segments in the usual way. In the structure shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the blocks 261 are of soft metal, being similar to the blocks 261 but not completely filling the clearance-spaces, and said blocks permit closure of the segments upon the rod by displacement or flowing of the soft metal toward the rod 1nto the open clearance-spaces adjoining the rod.

Now, having described my inventlon, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a metallic rod-packing, a packing ring comprising a series of circumferentially overlapped segments, there being clearance-spaces at the ends of the segments adjoining the bore and one face of the ring, deformable spacing-members extending across said clearance-spaces and stoppingl the same longitudinally of the rod, an

means abutting said face of the ring and confining said spacing-members against displacement except toward the bore of the ring.

2. In a metallic rod-packing, a packingring comprising a series of circumferentially overlapped substantially nondeformable segments having clearance-spaces at the ends thereof adjoining the bore and one face of the ring, deformable spacing-members filling said clearancespaces, and means abutting said face of the ring and confining said spacing-members against displacement except toward the bore of the ring.

3. In a metallic rod-packing, a packingring comprising a plurality of main segments fitting around the rod and having radial clearance spaces between adjacent ends thereof, the end-portions of said main segments being recessed adjoining the rod and one side-face of the packing-ring, the outer sides of the several recesses being plane-surfaced and at angles to each other similar to the sides of an equilateral polygon symmetrical to the axis of the rod, inner segments fitting in said recesses to lap the clearance-spaces between the ends of the main segments, there being clearance-spaces between the ends of said inner segments and the respectively adjacent ends of the recesses, and members in the latter clearance spaces for maintaining the circumferential spacing of the segments and opposing closure of the segments upon the rod, said members extending from the rod to the outer sides of said clearance-spaces to stop the same longitudinally of the rod and being deformable to enable closure of the segments only under predeterminable temperature and pressure.

4:. In a metallic rod-packing, a packingring comprising a plurality of main segments having radial clearance-spaces between adjacent ends thereof, inner segments fitting slidably within recesses in the endportions of the main segments so that the central portion of each inner segment extends across the clearance-space between a pair of the main segments, the outer sides of the inner segments comprising plane-surfacescoincident with alternate vertexes of an equilateral polygon symmetrical to the axis of the rod, there being clearance-spaces betweenthe ends of the inner segments and of the recesses containing said segments, and spacing members deformable under heat and pressure and completely filling the latter clearance-spaces for preventing reduction of said spaces circumferentially of the rod except by upsetting of the material forming said members inwardly against the rod.

5. in a metallic rod-packing, a packingring comprising a plurality of main segments having clearance-spaces between adjacent ends thereof, said spaces extending radially and longitudinally of the rod, the

end-portions of the main segments having plane-surfaced recesses opening to the rod and to one side-face of the packing-ring, inner segments fitting slidably in said recesses so that the central portions of said inner segments extend across the clearance-spaces between the respective pairs of main segments, there being clearance-spaces between the ends of the inner segments and the ends of the recesses, and deformable members in the latter clearance-spaces extending from the ends of the inner segments to the ends of the respective recesses and from the rod to the outer sides of the recesses, said members vadapted to maintain uniform spacing of all of the segments about the rod and preventing closure of the segments except under temperatures and pressures sufficient to cause upsetting of the member.

6. In a metallic rod-packing, the combination with a packing-ring comprising a series of overlapping segments having at the ends thereof clearance-spaces which are re;

ducible during closing of the ring upon the rod and without deformation of the segments, of soft-metal spacing-members disposed in said clearance-spaces, and means confining the same to prevent deformation thereof except in one direction.

7 In a metallic rod-packing, the combination with a packing-ring comprising a series of overlapping segments having clearance-spaces at the ends thereof, of spacingmembers filling said clearance-spaces and stopping the same longitudinally of the rod, said spacing-members being of material deformable under pressure of the segments when closing upon the rod, whereby said material may be displaced from the clearance-spaces under said pressure and retard but not prevent the closing of the ring upon the rod.

JOHN BADEKER. 

